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September 08, 2014On the Handmade (Part 3): Q&A with Jennifer Still
(Part 3 of 3. I'm reposting the introductory text from Post 1 to set up the context for Jennifer Still's response.)It’s been said that the hand-written letter is becoming lost to us, or that for many ...
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November 18, 2016
The Joy of Reading: discussion with Sandy Crawley of the National Reading Campaign
By Bianca Lakoseljac: OB Writer in Residence The importance of literacy in all cultures and societies cannot be underestimated. In Canada, it remains one of our main priorities. However, in some parts ...
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June 05, 2019Cheryl Thompson on the Complicated History of the Black Beauty Industry in Canada
The politics of Black hair can be deeply complex, and the industry surrounding Black beauty intersects with the cultural and personal experiencing of Black people, especially women. From the struggles ...
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March 02, 2022Carl Watts on Why Poetry's So-Called Shortcomings Might Be Its Greatest Strengths
It's easy to imagine the scene: at a poetry reading (pre-pandemic), an open mic-er ascends to the stage, taps the microphone, and announces with aplomb, "I just wrote this five minutes ago." Cue the ...
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July 21, 2018
You Just Need to Write a Bestseller
If you’re a writer and you’re not rich and famous—so what I mean is, if you’re a writer—you’ve heard this one, often enough from someone who doesn’t write fiction or maybe even read it.Have ...
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September 18, 2014Q&A with Lorie and Robert Wright, Co-Owners of the Tamworth Book Shop
Coordinates: 44.4667° N, 76.9833° W“Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes ...
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March 10, 2014Travelling for Research
Travelling for writing research is an exciting way to make your work genuine and also justify a vacation, but the timing of such travel can be difficult to determine: when in the writing process should ...
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January 11, 2022MP Charlie Angus Explores the Complex History of the Mining Town of Cobalt, Ontario as Global Demand for Cobalt Soars
If you have a smartphone, you use cobalt everyday. We may not give much thought to the chemical element represented by "Co" on the periodic table, but it has become one of the most important substances ...
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March 15, 2024In Conversation with Author Yewande Daniel-Ayoade and Illustrator Ken Daley
Author Yewande Daniel-Ayoade crafts a unique and uplifting fable in her latest picturebook. It's the story of an eight-year-old girl in a West African village who loses her father, who was the king, ...
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November 24, 2015On Writing Violence - An Addendum
I’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback and some questions about one of my first posts for Open Book, “On Writing Violence.” One reader, Susan, asked me in the comments about how this all ...
